War in Heaven?

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War in Heaven, what would that have like?

Did the Angels of God and the Demons of Satan actually combat each other?

What an “earthly imagery” that is, could it be true?

I’d expect what happened after the demons rejected God as
God simply casting out the wicked angels, but the Bible de-
scribes it differently, right?

What exactly was the nature of this “War in Heaven”?
 
Some years ago, I fell under the spell of a fundamentalist church.
They claimed that the War in Heaven was a real war between opposing forces, although on a cosmic scale that we can’t imagine. They claimed that this war was probably responsible for the barren, lifeless existence beyond earth–that the universe was once a glowing testament to creation, but the war left it almost entirely ruined, including the earth. Then God started the business of regenerating the earth, and this is where the book of Genesis begins. The earth was already there, only “formless and empty”. As it’s hard to imagine God creating anything formless and empty, there must have been something truly cataclysmic to make it so.
I recall being strongly attracted to this argument at the time. It probably doesn’t match with Catholic teachings, but there seems to be some sense to it, even as I consider it years later.
 
Judas_Thaddeus said:
War in Heaven, what would that have like?

Did the Angels of God and the Demons of Satan actually combat each other?

What an “earthly imagery” that is, could it be true?

I’d expect what happened after the demons rejected God as
God simply casting out the wicked angels, but the Bible de-
scribes it differently, right?

What exactly was the nature of this “War in Heaven”?
Click to expand...
That war was a battle of wills (not physical war), when the angels, created by the Lord were tested. About 1/3 of them rebelled.
 
Dorothy said:
That war was a battle of wills (not physical war), when the angels, created by the Lord were tested. About 1/3 of them rebelled.
Click to expand...
THIS.

The angels are immaterial, they have no physical bodies to wage a physical war against each other with. The standard imagery of angels is symbolic, the wings represent their speed, the baby cherubs represent their innocence, etc. they don’t actually look like that (or like anything). They battled with their intellects and wills, but not in such a way that they would have destroyed parts of space, it would serve no purpose in such a war. Think of the war more like a rebellion, with the king ultimately triumphant and exiling the rebels,
 
Judas_Thaddeus said:
War in Heaven, what would that have like?

Did the Angels of God and the Demons of Satan actually combat each other?

What an “earthly imagery” that is, could it be true?

I’d expect what happened after the demons rejected God as
God simply casting out the wicked angels, but the Bible de-
scribes it differently, right?

What exactly was the nature of this “War in Heaven”?
Click to expand...
There was no war in Heaven because it is a realm of joy, peace and love. The description of the struggle between good and evil is allegorical.
 
It was a battle of wills. That is what the war was about. Those angels who followed the Lord rallied under Michael who challenged the rebellious angels with this: “Who is like God?”

The leader of the rebellious angels, Lucifer, (now known as Satan) said to God “I will not serve.”
 
A realted question to ask is when did war occur in the timeline of creation? If they had a “war” before the material world was created, then it had no effect on our world. If it occurred after the angels were assigned duties in the physical world, watching over planets, suns, and creatures. Then perhaps there “war” could have had effects in the our world. If a angel watching over a sun rebels, could that sun explode? It’s more probable that it was a purely spiritual battle of prayers and good thoughts versus hatred and sacrileges.🤷
 
Timothysis said:
How do you know this?
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The angels had a choice before they were to be fully admitted to the Beatific Vision.

Revelation 12:7-10 “Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. Although the dragon and his angels fought back, they were overpowered and lost their place in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent known as the devil or Satan, the seducer of the whole world, was driven out; he was hurled down to earth and his minions with him.”

Michael (Mik-ael) in Hebrew, means “Who is like God” - the battle cry against the pride of that high angel.

Theologians, basically St. Thomas Acquinas, and traditional Church teaching tell us it was the sin of pride. He was a very beautifully endowed angel and wanted to be like God, not in service to God.

The best book I have read about angels, in my opinion, is by Peter Kreeft. It is called “Angels (and Demons)”.

In it many questions are answered about angels. In this book fantasy and myth are separated from fact.
 
Judas_Thaddeus said:
War in Heaven, what would that have like?

Did the Angels of God and the Demons of Satan actually combat each other?

What an “earthly imagery” that is, could it be true?

I’d expect what happened after the demons rejected God as
God simply casting out the wicked angels, but the Bible de-
scribes it differently, right?

What exactly was the nature of this “War in Heaven”?
Click to expand...
Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning (Lk 10:18)”, so it must have been over in a flash. 😛
 
I like to think it was “physical” in its own way, and it gives me confort and strength…
That there are mighty forces aside from our lord, and our side, the good side… won the war… It makes me want to be a better person

Am i a heretic? :rolleyes:
 
Phalanx said:
I like to think it was “physical” in its own way, and it gives me confort and strength…
That there are mighty forces aside from our lord, and our side, the good side… won the war… It makes me want to be a better person

Am i a heretic? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
It was a battle of wills between bodiless spirits. Being human, we use human symbols to demonstrate that battle. For example, that famous painting of St. Michael the Archangel standing triumphantly over the defeated Satan.

I don’t think you are a heretic.
 
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